Welcome to The Circular People, where we celebrate Circular Economy Companies and sustainable business ideas being tested all over the world! The Circular People is a growing directory of circular economy companies from around the world. From fashion to food, energy to electronics, these circular economy companies are proving that waste is a design flaw — and that better business models exist. Browse our featured circular economy companies below and get inspired.
Browse these Circular Economy Companies or browse by category scrolling further below.
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ADAPTAVATE
This company makes a carbon-negative, compostable alternative to plasterboard from agricultural waste — turning one of construction’s most wasteful materials into one of its most circular.
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ACELERON
This company has redesigned the lithium-ion battery from the ground up so it can be repaired, upgraded and reused — making the case that batteries don’t have to be disposable.
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SOLARCYCLE
This company is building the recycling infrastructure for solar panels — recovering the silver, aluminium, silicon, and glass inside them to feed directly back into new clean energy manufacturing.
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PLAXTIL
This French company transforms non-recyclable textile and clothing waste into a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based plastic.
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Circular Economy Company Principles
What is the Circular Economy and what do Circular Economy Companies do?
A Circular Economy is one that closely mimics the life-cycle of resources in nature: nothing is created and nothing is destroyed and resources go back into the earth and can be regenerated in some form or the other. In our current “linear” economy, resources are taken from the Earth, products are made from them, and eventually thrown away as waste- there is no end-of–life design for most materials, and most materials end up in a landfill and have no way of being used ever again.
In a circular economy, products and services would be designed taking into account the full life-cycle of the materials used by that product or service such that waste would be eliminated or at least minimized. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a UK-based non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the transition to a Circular Economy since 2010, the circular economy is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. Circular Economy Companies ideally capture all these principles in developing regenerative solutions.
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“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”
— Native American Proverb